Kevin O’Leary paid $15 million as a FTX spokesperson, but lost it all

Canadian businessman and investor Kevin O’Leary revealed on Dec. 8 in an interview with CNBC that he lost all of the $15 million FTX paid him to represent the now-defunct crypto exchange.

BREAKING ‼️Kevin O’Leary got paid $15 Million to be FTX spokesperson.

That money belongs to FTX customers. 🤨

— Bitcoin Archive 🗄🚀🌔 (@BTC_Archive) December 8, 2022

During CNBC’s pre-market morning news program “Squawk Box,” the hosts confronted O’Leary for not properly assessing the risks associated with investing and promoting FTX. In response, O’Leary said he fell victim to “groupthink,” stating that none of his investors lost money.

“The institutional interest in FTX on the US equity was unbelievable. The amount of people that approached me saying, ‘How do I get a piece of this deal?’ And I said at that time, ‘I’m a paid spokesperson, I cannot bring you in as an LP,” O’Leary said.

Speaking about the $15 million deal loss, he said he put about $9.7 million into crypto, had about $1 million of FTX equity, and a little over $4 million was cut due to taxes and agent fees.

However, some Twitter users are skeptical that he lost all his investments. 

The money conveniently vanished to zero. Funny how that happens. He won’t be returning a single red cent. pic.twitter.com/RaNa63hX7K

— 𝐓𝐗𝐌𝐂 (@TXMCtrades) December 8, 2022

 Nevertheless, the Canadian investor acknowledges that his investment was a bad one, as FTX mismanaged billions of dollars.

Even though the FTX vaporized billions of dollars, O’Leary refused to condemn Sam Bankman-Fried, without an audit. 

“There’s only the murder of my money in this case… If you want to say he’s guilty before he’s tried, I just don’t understand it,” O’Leary said. 

Earlier, Kevin O’Leary supported Bankman-Fried after the ex-FTX CEO denied any connection to Alameda’s activities that brought down the whole market.

I lost millions as an investor in @FTX and got sandblasted as a paid spokesperson for the firm but after listening to that interview I’m in the @billAckman camp about the kid! https://t.co/5lWzTT7JEv

— Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) December 1, 2022

Moreover, the Canadian businessman recently tweeted that he is not afraid of investing in failed entrepreneurs.

I am not scared of investing in entrepreneurs that have had catastrophic failures. Failure is often the best teacher.

— Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) December 8, 2022